Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow
by masquerade5020
Summary: Yesterday, Soar had it all. Today, she weeps for yesterday. And tomorrow, well tomorrow is very uncertain. Vauge LxOC
1. Beginnings

_Dong. Dong. Dong._

A distant church bell tolled the witching hour as snow tumbled quietly down, quickly covering the already frozen grounds of Winchester. It was only the early days of November, and yet Christmas decorations could already be seen in many a shop window, placed by shop owners hoping to start the holiday shopping season early.

_Dong. Dong. Dong._

Lights, festive and street, illuminated a woman walking along a deserted sidewalk, who shuddered at the clanging of the bell. She was of average height, with dark, red-brown hair that hung down to just below her shoulders. The only thing unusual about her was her eyes - the right slate-blue and the left ice-gray - the result of the lack of melanin in the left iris.

_Dong. Dong. Dong. _

Soar, for this was what the woman called herself, gave another little start and glared in the direction of the bell, a haunted look hanging in her eyes. The last time she'd heard such bells toll was at a the funeral of her dearest friend, one day prior to her twenty-fourth birthday.

_Dong. Dong. Dong._

She cast her gaze skyward, where the stars could be seen poking through the clouds here and there, and sighed in a sorrowful manner. It was unbelievable to think that everything that she had loved and worked for had been taken away in the single stroke of a pen - how could she ever move on in her life? A tear trickled down Soar's cheek, and she wiped it away slowly, catching the droplet on her gloved fingertip and looking at it somewhat curiously before letting it fall to the ground. The tear had brought back to her mind a day long ago.

_A little girl sat on a large, plush bed, with her arms wrapped tightly around her legs, sobbing as quietly as she could , not wanting to attract the attention of the other residents of the place she would now be calling home.. Her attempt at silence, however, was in vain, for she found, with a gasp, that there was now a small, black-haired boy, sitting in a rather frog-like manner at the foot of her bed._

"Why are you upset?" the boy questioned, studying her and making her feel very uncomfortable.

"..." she didn't want to tell him, didn't want to talk about it and make the pain worse. She squeezed her eyes shut tight, hoping the boy would go away. However...

"I'll figure it out if you won't tell me. I'm good at figuring things out." the boy had moved closer to her, and now sat mere inches from her face. The young girl let out a little squeak and toppled backwards, coming to a stop against the mahogany headboard.

"I-I'd really r-rather not talk about it..." she stuttered. The boy continued to stare, his gray eyes wide, nearly without irises. He seemed to be trying to deduce what was wrong simply by staring at her. As this staring continued, a stray droplet trickled down the girl's cheek, which, of course, was a movement immediately caught by the odd boy.

Before she could make a move, his finger darted out and snatched up the teardrop, which he then held so close to his face to look at that he became momentarily cross-eyed. The girl gaped, flabbergasted that the boy had had the nerve to come into her personal space like that, and, as a reflex, reached out and smacked the tear right of his hand.

This caused him to actually move a little, sliding back away from her slightly and seeming to come out of his trance. "I've upset you worse haven't I?" he muttered, chewing at the end of his thumb. "I'm sorry."

The little girl watched him, very much unnerved by this boy. At least he was apologizing. "I- it's alright, you were just curious." she said, a little offhandedly.

The boy brightened immediately upon hearing that he was forgiven,, a slight smile creeping upon his face. "I'm Eru."

"Sora."

After this, the two children talked for a good while, and the girl, Sora, learned a many things about her new home, and felt a good deal better afterwards. Perhaps losing her parents wouldn't be so bad, if she had her new friend, Eru (who had gone through almost the same ordeal, she learned), to confide in.

Soar blinked, shaking herself out of the holds of the memory of her first day at Wammy's House Orphanage. She began to walk again, she was becoming numb with cold, and wished to reach her destination soon. After walking for around ten minutes more, the stone and iron gates of the mansion loomed dimly into view. She paused at the gate, looking quite fondly upon a small bronze plaque mounted on one of the stone posts, that, when illuminated by a streetlamp, read "WAMMY'S HOUSE".

Pushing open the gate, which she then latched securely behind her, Soar began up the cobblestone walk to the grand front doors of the orphanage. She knocked a few times, pleased to hear a scrabbling coming from the interior that announced she had not arrived before all the residents had gone to bed.

_"Mello, get the door."_

"Make Near get it."

**"Mello!"**

"Fine..."

Footsteps, accompanied by the voice of a young male uttering some rather choice words, came closer and finally arrived at the door, which opened and revealed to Soar a gangly teen with shoulder length blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. He stared, looking quite shocked, at the woman standing on the front step, who gave a small, although very warm, smile.

"Hey, Mells."

Mello broke into a wide grin and flung his arms around Soar's neck. Although he was only fifteen years of age, he easily was as tall as her. She returned his hug, equally as happy to see one of the five orphans that she considered siblings. The teen released his hold on her and pulled her by the arm across the threshold, slamming the door behind him. They now stood in a wide, old-fashioned entrance hall, complete with antique wood décor and velvet wall paper.

"Matt! Car! Look who's home!" Mello called out. Two more teenagers entered the hall, the first of which being a boy even taller then Mello, dressed in a black-and-white striped shirt, jeans, and a pair of goggles perched upon his rather messy red hair. He had with him a hand-held video game, which he seemed very intent upon. The second of the pair was a slender girl with long, light-brown hair, and fiery, brown eyes. Upon sighting just who Mello had said had arrived home, this girl gave an excited, high-pitched shriek and practically leapt upon Soar, shoving both boys out of her way.

"SOAR! Oh my god, you haven't come to see us in ages!" she gushed, happily, "I've missed you so much!"

"I've missed you, too, Carys..." Soar responded, trying in vain to loosen Carys' vice-like grip around her midsection, which was making it quite difficult to breath. From over the girl's shoulder, she could see Matt rolling his eyes, and smiled a little. He caught her gaze and gave a nod of hello, before returning to the hand-held game.

At this time, three more people joined the growing crowd in the entrance hall. Their number contained a balding, elderly man, a small, white-haired boy clutching a toy robot protectively, and a little girl with dark brown hair. Both of the children appeared to be around thirteen years of age, and seemed rather tired at the late hour. As soon as she saw Soar, the little girl bowled right past the boy and repeated almost exactly what Carys had done, though this time, all three females ended up on the floor.

"H-hello...Angel..." Soar wheezed from under the two girls. Carys huffed in annoyance and got up, dusting herself off and going to stand next to Matt and Mello. Angel, however, remained on top of Soar, hugging her tightly. Sighing, Soar sat up a little, supporting herself with one arm, and wrapping her free arm around Angel to hug her back. She glanced over at the old man, who, though wearing a tired expression, looked generally pleased to see her, and little boy, who had yet to say anything yet.

"No hello, Near?" she questioned, smiling. Near waved one hand at her, then began to twiddle a strand of his curly hair. She laughed lightly and then turned her attention on the elderly man, who cracked a small smile for her.

"It's been a while, Roger."

"Welcome home, S."

About half-an-hour later, Roger and Soar were both seated in comfortable leather armchairs in front of a merrily-crackling fire place, complete with two mugs of steaming tea. Roger took a deep sip from his own drink and settled back comfortably into his chair with a sigh. Soar remained sitting slightly forward in her chair, her mug clasped firmly between her hands. Noticing her unease, Roger cleared his throat and spoke.

"It's not often you stop by like this, what's the reason behind your visit, S?"

This was apparently exactly the question that Soar had been waiting to hear, and with an intake of breath, she set her mostly-full tea on a pinewood end table and rested her face in her hands. When she looked back up, Roger was surprised to see that she had tears forming in her eyes.

"S... this isn't about Watari is it?" he questioned, offering her a tissue.

"Well, yes and no." she replied, gratefully accepting the tissue and dabbing at her eyes with it. "You already know, of course, that he's passed away." she sniffled a little and continued. "As you might have guessed, Kira has struck very, _very_close to home."

"So it was him." Roger said, gravely. Soar nodded and continued shakily.

"But, sadly, that isn't the end of it. Which is why I'm here in the first place..." she paused, looking at him curiously. "The orphans know of his death, correct?"

When Roger gave the affirmative, Soar nodded, as though she had expected this. "There was only one death that was reported... no one else knows, of course, th-that... Ryuzaki..."

With a very intense stare, Roger cut her off, as she seemed to be speaking to herself.

"Soar, what happened?"

With a little sob, Soar met his stare, wide eyed.

"Kira killed him. L is dead."


	2. Disbelief

"What?" Roger stared at Soar blankly.

"He's gone." she moaned. "We've lost."

Roger stood and strode over to the window, massaging his temples with one hand and gripping the sill with the other. Soar watched through bleary eyes from her chair, wringing the damp tissue as she waited for his reaction, and shuddering slightly with suppressed sobs. The minutes ticked by monotonously on the clock on the mantle, when at last, after what seemed like hours, Roger returned to facing her.

"There must be some mistake."

Soar looked at him, thinking perhaps she had heard wrong. "P-pardon?"

Sighing, Roger crossed back over and laid a hand on her shoulder in what he obviously assumed was a comforting manner. "Listen, S... these past few days must have been pretty hard on you, and I'm sure you must not be thinking correctly, because there's no way-"

Soar rose abruptly from her seat, tossing off Roger's hand and turning to face him with a furious expression. "You don't believe me?!"

He held up his hands, as though trying to soothe her. "Now, now, S, don't get upset, the best of us get mislead sometimes. I'm sure L is just fine; if anything he faked his death."

"He is not 'just fine'! I was there! I saw him go!" Soar snapped, not believing what was happening. "There was no possible way to fake a death in that situation!"

Roger took a step back from her, looking at her sternly over his glasses. "I always told Quillsh that something like this would happen. Just look at what happened with Beyond and A before him! And now the pressure's gotten to you too!" he sighed, suddenly looking far older than he truly was. "I will not except that L is dead until the timer runs out. Until that time, he lives on."

Soar stared at him in cold fury. "If either of the two of us are mad, it is you, Roger. The day will come when the truth is revealed, and then you will see."

She exited into the vast, drafty hallway and started towards her own room, still in disbelief over what had just taken place. It was maddening; she had never once given Roger any reason to doubt in her abilities, and here he was accusing her of starting on the same path that Beyond Birthday had traveled on. She stopped suddenly, with a shudder, noticing she had wound up right next to the door of his former room.

_He had been a very handsome young man then, at about fourteen years of age, with black hair that was tousled just in the way that made him look dashing and mysterious. He flirted with all the girls, naturally, because they all wanted his attention, but it was never more than a few charming words to make them swoon. He was the favorite to succeed L, why, A showed no ambition at all to become the next most-wanted investigator. When she had left the orphanage to go stand at the side of justice at the tender age of sixteen, and he had bid her goodbye with a brotherly peck on the cheek and a cocky smile, she had held no doubt in her mind that someday the world would know of him. And perhaps young Carys, who he had definitely taken a liking to, would rise to his aid when the time came._

_The world did learn of Beyond Birthday, but not before things went wrong._

_Horribly, horribly wrong._

_It started with the suicide of the troubled A. The orphanage went into panic mode, but no one was as affected as B; brilliant, promising Beyond. He retreated into his own mind, becoming less and less of the way he had once been by the day. When his new self emerged, the very people he had grown up with could barely recognize him. He had lost his dream of succeeding L, instead he seemed content with mimicking him; perhaps he thought it was amusing. And then things really began to unravel._

_Carys, poor, innocent, Carys, was the first victim. She awoke the entire mansion with screams and cries for help, but when Roger and the staff rushed to her room to see what was wrong, they found nothing but the terrified girl in a ripped nightdress surrounded by torn and bloodied sheets. Beyond disappeared from Wammy's after that, and wouldn't show up again for years to come._

It always hurt, thinking back to the greatest tragedy in the history of the orphanage. Soar continued walking, stopping only to pause and stare out a window at the snow-covered lawn below. The last time she had seen Beyond was when he had been in a Los Angeles asylum after his string of serial killings designed to dupe L - the infamous LABB murder cases. He had been quite mad, she could tell, and yet she had managed to have a decent - albeit short - conversation with him. It saddened her now, for that had been the very last time she had spoke with him.

Suddenly overcome with a mixture of cold and fatigue. Soar hurried on to her room. She reached the door at last, one she had not opened for over a year. Upon entering, she was pleased to find that the maids had seen fit to keep the surfaces dusted and the linens washed. Her eyes passed over the familiar furniture and décor, a bittersweet feeling welling up inside her. Her beloved bay window, where she had spent hours reading or sketching, looked the same as always, with quilted pillows tucked into its corners. The red velvet wallpaper was complemented by the fluffy, royal-blue carpet and mahogany woodwork. A tall dresser stood to one wall, with a mirror built to match at its side, and on the far end of the room was a fine, marble fireplace, in front of which two cushy armchairs sat. Someone had lit the fire earlier, for it crackled merrily, filling the room with a pleasant warmth. In the very center of the room, sat the very four-poster bed she had been crying on as a small girl, the ornate, old-English styled, metal "S" still hung above it on the wall.

Soar smiled weakly, enjoying the feeling of being in her old home. She stepped over to the bed and folded back the comforter and blankets, before slipping off her shoes and crawling up onto it to sit cross-legged in the center. She tilted her head back to look at the canopy above her and closed her eyes.

_"I'm Eru."_

"Sora"

She gasped, quickly clapping her hand over her mouth to drown out the sound. Her heart beat frantically as she scanned the room for unseen intruders. After taking a few deep breaths to calm herself, Soar rose from the bed and crossed to the dresser, opening it and pulling out a nightdress and robe. She glanced at the clock, which read a quarter past three. With a yawn, she closed the drawer she had been in and returned to the bed.

_Only a hallucination... there's no such thing as ghosts..._she reasoned silently, slipping into bed and pulling all the blankets a top of her. There was simply no other explanation for hearing the phantom voices of her and L's childhood selves. She placed her favorite pillow beneath her head and was asleep within minutes.

Her dreams were troubled that night - visions of the things plaguing her most haunted her throughout. She saw again her childhood home, up in flames, with her parents still inside; the corpse of A still suspended by a rope from the ceiling of the drawing room; the horrid, mangled victims of Beyond Birthday; Beyond himself, after his death; countless corpses and oddities she had seen throughout the years due to her profession; Kira, who was a laughing, faceless maniac; and L... always back to her partner as he died.

All in all, she awoke just as tired as she had been when she had fallen asleep.


	3. Successor

Five days into the twelfth month found a thick, powdery snow completely covering the yards of Wammy's; a Christmas snow, the children called it. All were gathered in the large, center room of the orphanage that served as a living room of sorts.

The smallest of the bunch curled about Soar's feet as she read to them from a large, musty book of Christmas tales while they worked on letters to Santa Claus, occasionally asking her for assistance in spelling. The older children were settled comfortably in old, soft easy-chairs, reading books or chatting quietly.

An old radio perched on a shelf doled out Christmas carols; in years past the tunes would have been played on the grand piano at the front of the room, but as it was Soar who played it, and she seemed to have lost her musicality in the weeks past, the piano remained silent and cold.

As the sky began to darken, one of the maids from the mansion's roomy kitchen arrived in the parlor with a cart piled with small sweets, steaming mugs of apple cider, hot coco, and honey-and-lemon teas. Though the snacks were accepted gratefully, they soon were forgotten, as a gardener arrived with a large, snow-bedecked, pine tree.

Wammy's house was home to nine different trees during the Christmas season, though the arrival of this tree was most special, as it was the largest of them all as well as the one which presents would be stowed beneath. There was a great rush as some of the elder boys hurried to help bring the tree indoors, and the rest of the group went off in search of the boxes of decorations and lights.

While all were occupied, Soar closed the novel of stories and padded quietly out past her housemates, taking to the first flight of stairs she came to. It was oddly quiet out here away from the festivity, and she shuddered as she walked, tugging her sweater tighter around her shoulders -the halls weren't heated as the remainder of the house.

As she gained the second floor, the floor on which her room was located, she was held up by a trio of teenagers.

"Skipping out on the Yuletide goings-on, too?" Mello questioned, sharing a knowing smirk with Matt and Carys. The three leaned on a wall next to a heat vent, occupied by a bar of chocolate, a hand-held game, and a book, respectively.

"Just coming from them, actually," she surveyed her subordinates, looking for any traces of guilt. on their countenances. "And why weren't you three down there?"

"Couldn't be bothered." Matt muttered, the gloved fingers of one hand never ceasing their motion on the buttons of his game. Soar noticed, with a small smile, that the other hand was clasping Cary's, who sat in seeming disinterest with her nose in her book.

"Fair enough... just try and stay out of trouble." she winked and walked onward with a little wave of her hand. Moments later she had arrived at the door of her room, which had remained unlocked since her arrival as Angel sometimes enjoyed taking shelter in the bay window to read or do her schoolwork.

It was to that bay window where Soar moved now, and she sat staring out at the gently falling flakes against the blue-black sky. She sighed and rested her head on the cold glass of the window pane, closing her eyes as she sorted through her thoughts.

The last time she'd celebrated Christmas here and been three years ago, back when...  
_No, don't even start thinking about that..._ she scolded herself, not wanting to start the waterworks again. She'd known the risks of the job when she'd agreed to it, and now she'd have to be strong

It bothered her to think that the orphans were oblivious to L's demise. If anything, she should have at least have been allowed to alert the two in line for successor as to what had happened, but there had nearly been another fight between her and Roger on the matter of sharing the knowledge.

And speaking of Roger...

_Thud thud thud._

The knock on her door was followed by the caretaker's muffled voice, requesting permission to enter her room. She opened her eyes and gave her consent, and a moment later a very hassled, pale Roger entered.

"Yes?" she questioned in an even tone - they hadn't gotten back on good terms since she'd arrived.

He closed the door and leaned against it, not looking at her as he spoke. "S... the timer has expired."

Soar sat upright immediately, her eyes narrowing at his words. "So you believe me now, then? Why not a month ago, when I came here and gave you a first-hand account?"

Roger flinched at the harsh nature of her voice, as well as the truth of her words. If only he had believed her at that time, then perhaps she may be more willing to assist him now.

"S - Soar - please. Listen to me for a moment." he pleaded wearily. "With L gone, there's no one opposing Kira openly, or anyone on our end at all for that matter," a pause, "Which is why we need you to lead the investigation from this point on."

Silence met the end of his speech as Soar stared at him, too startled for words. It was not and never had been her place to succeed L, no, she was simply not cut out for that role. But as she overcame her shock, she realized that Roger must have been very shaken by the timer running out, and had turned to her as a would-be rescuer.

"No... that is not my place." she responded, though her voice was gentler than it had been when she had previously spoken, "He chose from the boys for that position."

"The boys? But, S, surely they're not ready?"

"I'm certain of it." she responded brusquely, rising to her feet. "After all, L was much younger when he started."

This statement seemed to settle the matter, for Roger nodded and made to leave. "Meet me in the office in a few moments, I'd like to have you there when I speak with Mello and Near."

Shortly after, Soar sat near Roger behind his desk, the two boys standing before them. Not really wanting to hear what was being said by Roger, Soar instead paid attention to how the two boys would react to what was being told to them. While Mello instantly flew into a barrage of questions, Near sat quietly, piecing together an almost completely white puzzle.

"If you can't solve the puzzle, you're nothing but a looser." the white haired boy spoke softly, startling the other occupants of the room. It was the most Soar had heard him speak since she'd arrived.

Mello glowered in his house mate's direction before rounding on her. "Tell me since Roger apparently can't, Soar! Which of us is to succeed L?!"

She raised her eyes to meet his angry gaze, studying his countenance. He had always been quick to act and let his emotions get the better of him, something that usually wasn't desirable in their occupation, and yet he had astonishing potential.

"L wasn't able to choose a successor, Mello. He ran out of time."

"Then you choose! You have just as much authority!"

"It isn't that easy." Soar sighed wearily. She'd forgotten how it was to deal with his temper. "Each of you has excellent qualities for the position."

"Why don't the two of you work together?" Roger suggested. "It'd surely be very effective."

This was apparently the wrong thing to say, for Mello's face darkened and when he next spoke it was through clenched teeth. "We'd never get along - we never have! Just let him do it, he's always beat me at everything anyway. I can't control my emotions, you've said it yourself."

"Mells!"

But Mello ignored Soar's plea and slammed out of the room. That same night, he left Wammy's, never to return again.

The next afternoon found both Angel and Carys in Soar's room, each seated on the floor as she paced in front of them lecturing.

"One of you will step up as soon as Near is ready and take my place, and you have to prepare yourselves for when this happens." she said, pausing and taking a seat on the edge of her bed.

"How hard can it be?" Carys yawned, leaning back on her hands and gazing at the ceiling.  
"We've been being trained for this most of our lives, Soar, I think we can handle it."

Soar tilted her head and regarded the teen for a moment. "You think so?"

"Pft. Of course."

With a sigh, the girls' mentor shook her head and spoke again. "I used to think that too - how hard could it be when the world's finest technology and security lies at your fingertips? But it's different when you're out there: the what-if situations are suddenly all to real. The threat of death is there every day, and there's going to be a time when you may look Death in the eye, because that is what we do." she paused, looking away from the keen faces before her next sentence. "And though it's possible, God forbid that your partner dies in front of you; that's the hardest thing you'll ever see, because that is when you've failed."

Both girls stared at her in a stunned silence, the only sound in the room was of their steady breathing. Angel's face was white with anxiety at the thought of what awaited her in the future, and Carys had lost her attitude about it.

"But Soar," Angel questioned after a time, "Won't you continue to assist in the investigation? And how will you pick which of us is going to succeed you?"

Soar thought for a moment before answering. "Of course I'll continue, but it won't be in the way you're thinking. And I won't be the one choosing, that is for Near to decide."

The two nodded and she answered a few more of their questions before sending them away. She stood in the frame of her door as they walked down the hall away from her, a frown on her face. Perhaps this hadn't been the right decision after all; she'd never forgive herself if something happened to either of them.

_But it must be this way._ the little voice of reason in her head insisted, and she knew that it was right.

However, right was a cruel thing in their world.


	4. Dreams

**A/N: So this hasn't been updated in like a year. Oh well. Have at it. **

* * *

Christmas had come and gone with no word from Mello, and things had fallen back into a normal pattern at the orphanage. Near had accepted his appointment to lead the Kira investigation without a comment, and Carys and Angel had been spending more and more time with Soar, preparing for years to come.

She worked with them daily, testing them, springing various figurative situations on them to see how they'd react. Pleased with their progress as she was, she couldn't hide the ever-present ache that accompanied her knowledge that they'd soon be out in the world, no longer under her protection.

Besides this constant worry for her girls, something else had been bothering Soar as of late.

"That's enough for today, the rest of the afternoon is yours." she announced, rising from the plush chair she'd been occupying in the library where they'd been working that day. Carys and Angel stowed their papers in a flourish, stretching and eager to be able to take advantage of their free time.

"Alright there, Soar?" Carys asked as she and her companion passed the older female on the way out the door. "You look kind worn out."

Soar shook her head and offered a weary smile. "I'm fine Car; just a bit under the weather."

The girls scrutinized her a moment more, until she insisted she was indeed alright, and bid them good day. She waited until the sound of their conversation had faded down the hallway before exiting the library herself in the direction of her room.

As soon as the door had been closed behind her, Soar sank to the carpeted floor, shivering. She groaned and buried her face in her arms as her stomach churned; she was far from "a bit under the weather" as she had told Carys.

The nausea she was experiencing currently had been something that had plagued her for the past three weeks. She could only hope she was wrong as to why.

And yet...

She slid a hand down and drummed her fingers gingerly on her abdomen. There was part of her that was excited for what this could mean; the younger, more hopeful side of her was thrilled that she still had the chance to be a mother. And the child would certainly resemble its father...

She squeezed her eyes shut at this thought, swallowing the burning sensation that had risen in the back of her throat. The child - her child - would never know its father; would never know a complete family.

But that was entirely her fault; as someone had said a year prior, she'd known the consequences for the choices she'd made.

_The only sounds in the sterile, white hallway were the hum of the fluorescent lights overhead, the clicking of her heels, and the soft thump of the warden's shoes. She truly hated this place - it reminded her of a prison simply disguised as a hospital. _

"_Here we are, Ms. Tsukino." the warden addressed her by her fake surname as he stopped outside the plain white door of one of the cells, producing a jangling key ring from his pocket to unlock the knob._

"_Are you sure you wouldn't like someone to accompany you?"_

"_I'm sure I'll be perfectly fine." Soar declined, smiling politely._

_The warden looked through the small window at the top of the cell door and sighed, shaking his head. "I would advise against it but... suit yourself."_

_She nodded and stepped through the door, flinching slightly as it was slammed behind her. She did not move until she heard the retreating footsteps of the warden, at which point she then stepped further into the dimly lit cell. _

_It was completely whitewashed, ceiling and all. No distinguishing features decorated its interior, not even a window. The only piece of furniture was a simple, plastic cot, on which a young man with lank, black hair currently lounged, surveying Soar with a wide smirk plastered on his face._

"_Goodness, have they sent someone to check on me already? I'd truly thought you all had forgotten I was rotting in here." _

_The scarlet eyes glowed as the man stood, crossing the room with long strides until he stood right in front of the woman. He placed a hand under her chin, ignoring the way she stiffened, and lifted her face up. "It is good to see you, Sora."_

_Soar took a step backwards, pulling away from the hand, yet offered up a slight smile. _

"_Likewise, Beyond."_

_He stood and observed her for a moment, head cocked to one side, seeming to just notice that she'd moved away from him. Shrugging, he turned from her and made his way back to the cot, reclining on it with an arrogance that alluded most men. Soar followed, yet kept her distance, and remained standing when Beyond gestured for her to take a seat next to him._

"_So," he started, stretching lazily, "To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit? Did dear L send you?"_

"_Actually, he was rather against my coming here." Soar responded. "But I insisted someone should stop in and see how you were after the ah... incident in L.A."_

_Beyond chuckled darkly, and she frowned, a look of pity crossing her countenance as she took in the sight of the half-healed burns that covered his exposed skin. _

"_Why ever did you do it B?" she murmured sadly. "You could have been great..."_

_He snorted, eyes darkening. "Oh yes... I could have been great. Had everyone not been so enthralled with L the entirety of my youth, I could have been greater than this world will ever know."_

_He scowled, musing over the wrongs of the past, until Soar cleared her throat, bringing his mind back to the present. _

"_And yet, despite all that has happened, you've left your genius' side to come and console poor, forgotten B." a shadow of a genuine smile crossed Beyond's face, "You were always the best of the four of us, dear Sora."_

"_Please stop using my real name." she murmured, glancing around the cell as if she expected to see someone listening to their conversation._

"_Worried about privacy?" Beyond questioned. "Do you really think any of them would let you, darling Sora, their precious white queen, visit _me _without the most extreme security measures in place?"_

_He let out a bark of humorless laughter. "I wouldn't be surprised if L was watching us right now. Oh, how it must burn him to know you can't forget me!"_

_Soar sighed and knelt so she was at eye level with him, a look of deep sorrow on her face. _

"_We were a family once; when we'd lost our real families and thought we were alone. We had each other. He may forget those bonds if he likes, but I cannot."_

_Beyond snarled and rose, moving away from her to the other side of the cell. "You're a fool, Sora. You still carry dreams of family, of peace - things you'll never have!"_

_His words stung her, for she knew that they were true, but she swallowed the hurt and got to her feet, turning to face him._

"_You had a choice, Sora! You could have declined and gone on to live your own life, make your own choices, but you chose _him_!"_

_Beyond's voice cracked slightly, and a flicker of some unnamed emotion flashed through his scarlet irises. "You always chose him..."_

_Cautiously, Soar moved toward him, lightly placing a hand on his shoulder._

"_I'm so sorry B, I-"_

_He shrugged her hand off roughly and stepped away from her. "We're done here Sora."_

"_Beyond, please-"_

_She stumbled as he lunged at her, slamming her back roughly against the wall._

"_I said we're done here. Time for you to go back to your sweet dreamland of ignorance. Maybe once someone else dies - because someone will - you'll wake up."_

_The sound of hurried footsteps in the hallway induced Beyond to release her and make his way back over to the cot. Soar remained where she was, even as the warden and assortment of orderlies burst into the cell._

"_Remember, Soar," Beyond called as she was being escorted out, "You ruined your own dream with your choices."_

_He paused and then spoke again, with a look that would haunt her for years. "Oh, and do tell Carys hello for me..."_

_Two days later, Soar was horrified to learn that Beyond Birthday had died from a rather mysterious heart attack._

Soar shivered, though this time it was completely unrelated to her nausea. She wondered if Beyond had known on that last time she'd seen him just how accurate his predictions had been.

Even after she'd visited him, she carried a sliver of hope, like a beacon of light in a storm. Hope that one day, she'd be able to leave everything behind and live the normal life she coveted.

That dream shattered with a few strokes of a pen.

She clutched her abdomen, cold fingers of dread and despair snaking through her mind as she thought of the bleak future her child would certainly face in a world that grew more dangerous and uncertain by the day.


End file.
